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DBHDD to participate in Addiction Recovery Awareness Day at State Capitol

January 13, 2010

ATLANTA – More than 500 participants will gather at the State Capitol on Thursday, January 14, 2010 to support Addiction Recovery Awareness Day. A rally on the lawn will round out the day at noon with remarks from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Frank E. Shelp. The day will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a review of the legislative agenda and advocacy briefing provided by the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse. Following the advocacy briefing, a resolution will be read at 9:45 a.m. in the House and Senate Chambers. At 10:30 a.m., participants will have an opportunity to speak with legislators.

“Our mission at the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities is clear: prevent, treat and, above all, support lifelong recovery,” said Frank E. Shelp, DBHDD Commissioner. “Addiction Recovery Awareness Day is a reminder that recovery is possible and support is needed during and after the journey.”

The annual event will be attended by people in recovery, their family members, recovery allies, and treatment and recovery support providers who want to be heard and show support for substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

“This year we have tripled the number of sponsors of this event which suggests more people are getting the message that addiction is a pervasive, yet treatable, chronic health condition from which people can and do recover,” said Neil Kaltenecker, Executive Director for the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse. “We hope to convey to legislators and top policy-makers that addiction treatment works, and if addiction is treated, the cost to the State will be reduced.”

Addiction and Recovery Awareness Day is being sponsored by various treatment and recovery providers. To review a full list of sponsors and for further information, please visit the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse at http://www.gasubstanceabuse.org.